Up and pumping

November 11 was a pretty big day for me. Exciting too. 

On my birthday, I got a huge package in the mail. It was actually sent in two boxes. Those boxes contained all these goodies: 

So much stuff!

As you can see, I made the decision (kind of) to switch to an insulin pump. I had what could be considered an anxiety attack going through all of the materials. There has to be at least five pounds of training materials -- and that doesn't even include all the videos on the website. 

My doctor and I selected the Medtronic MiniMed 530G with the Enlite sensor. The Enlite sensor is a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). Together, they are being referred to as an artificial pancreas. It isn't quite an artificial one but it is one huge step closer. In fact, Time magazine named it as one of the top inventions for 2013. 

Medtronic takes their industry seriously. Trust me on this one. (I plan to write a blog about my experiences with them later this week). They didn't just send the supplies and let me figure it out. They called and walked me through opening up all the boxes. They connected me with a trainer, Ashley, so I could learn all about my pump! 

That is why Nov. 11 was a big day. An exciting day. I met with Ashley and she walked me through how to use my pump. She answered questions I had (even ones I considered silly and strange). She determined my starting rates for my basal and bolus along with my sensitivity factor and target range for blood sugars. 

For my wonderful non-diabetic readers -- basal is long acting insulin, the pump works like your pancreases do and gives me my insulin at a steady rate every hour to help control my blood sugars. Bolus is my fast acting and is taken when I eat food or to correct my blood sugars. It is the same insulin but disbursed differently. Sensitivity factor is how much my blood sugar will drop per every unit of insulin I take.

And then, after I learned and learned and everything was determined, she taught me how to prepare the reservoir (holds the insulin) and infusion set (tubing and connects the pump to your body). Next thing you knew, this was happening: 

Officially up and pumping

And then I was sent on my way. 

Ashley called the next day to see how it was going and the day after that went over my numbers with my doctor. I saw my doctor the day after that and we adjusted things such as my carb-to-insulin ratio and sensitivity factor. I'm convinced my doctor, Ashley and really, all of Medtronic, are going to make sure I do not fail at this.

With just over one week completed of wearing the pump, I've only had one error of messing up my reservoir but I'm okay with that because truth is, errors happen in life, especially when adjusting to something new. 

I'm not sure why I was so reluctant and hesitant to switch to the pump because already, my control seems much better and I'm feeling pretty optimistic. Maybe I can avoid some complications such as losing a limb or my eyesight or having my kidneys fail. 

Next week, on the 25th, I jump all in with this new management of my diabetes and learn all about my CGM and get that attached to me. The CGM takes your blood sugar approximately every 5 minutes 24/7. It works with the pump and will shut off your pump if your blood sugar gets too low so you don't receive additional insulin and continue staying low. 

But to summarize, I am now officially up and pumping.